Creating a Character Through Clothing: Moira Rose
Graphic by Angela Cheng. Images via Pop TV and The Hamilton Spectator
Cher Horowitz, Holly Golightly, Margot Tenenbaum – just a few beloved female characters whose clothing is just as famous as the characters themselves. Whether it’s a yellow plaid skirt and blazer set, a sleeveless black dress and gloves, or an oversized fur coat, a character’s wardrobe can play a huge role in establishing their personality and the way they are perceived by an audience – even before the first line of dialogue.
Images via Pinterest, Phaidon, and Rex
In the television world today, there is a new fashionista ready to go toe to toe with the classics. Meet Moira Rose, 64-year-old mother of two, played by the always phenomenal Catherine O’Hara.
Image via Pop TV
Dan and Eugene Levy’s Canadian comedy Schitt’s Creek tells the story of a family fallen from glory. The once massively wealthy Roses move to the town of Schitt’s Creek after losing everything but the clothes on their backs – and boy, are the clothes on their backs something to behold. Dan Levy, a writer, co-director, and star in the show, helped design the iconic wardrobe. In an interview detailing the costume design process, Levy articulated his desire to set the family apart from their new surroundings as they struggle to adapt. “The clothes that you see, the way that these characters wear their clothes, is so polar opposite to the way that the townspeople dress,” he said. “It was just such a fun way to make them stand out even more.”
Dan Levy, Annie Murphy, Catherine O’Hara, and Eugene Levy as the Rose family via Netflix/CBC
When Johnny and Moira Rose, along with their children, David and Alexis, are forced to abandon their old, glamorous lives for the town of Schitt’s Creek, they have quite a bit of trouble adjusting to the change. Over the course of the show, the characters become more comfortable with their new situation, but their outrageous clothing always reminds us where they came from. In some cases, the wardrobe even becomes the punchline.
Amongst all of the Rose family, Moira is easily the most outlandishly dressed and the most resistant to leaving their old lifestyle behind. “What’s amazing about Moira is clothes help her feel comfortable… it’s a character that really can’t stand alone without the façade she’s created for herself,” Levy explains. Although Moira’s wardrobe is symbolic of her inability to accept their new situation, she also uses her clothes to feel comfortable and empowered. Moira may strike some as vain, eccentric, and obsessed with appearances, but the more time you spend watching her, the more you realize that she is a very strong woman going through a tough experience – she’s coping the only way she knows how.
Images via Worn on TV and Pop TV
Catherine O’Hara herself had a hand in creating Rose’s jaw-dropping ensembles. “[O’Hara] had mentioned something to me about Daphne Guinness, who is a very eccentric dresser, she was friends with Alexander McQueen,” said Levy. Guinness has been described by some as the “Queen of Couture.” It is not difficult to see her influence in Moira’s wardrobe.
A fashion icon’s fashion icon: Daphne Guinness. Images via Eileen Costa - Museum at FIT and Into the Gloss
With Schitt’s Creek approaching its sixth and final season, Moira’s character has gained attention from various fashion writers and magazines. An article written by Molly Savard for Vice describes Moira as “a tour-de-force of avant-garde fashion.” Savard explains the joy she felt seeing an older women’s style portrayed so extravagantly, and how that reinvigorated her hope in a more-than-basic fashion future for herself.
Images via Worn on TV, The Hamilton Spectator, and CBC
Moira Rose reminds us that fashion has no age and to wear whatever makes you feel the most comfortable and confident, regardless of what other people think. Next time you feel afraid of stepping out in something daring, just think – “What would Moira do?”
Image via Pop